Sunday, March 24, 2013

We went for a walk yesterday right before lunch, then stopped at the gas station. Note to self: Don't do that anymore. The gas station has Diet Coke and potato chips. And I am hungry and more vulnerable to food temptations of lunchtime. I have written about Diet Coke before—it is one of the food addictions I have worked hard to overcome. I give myself a C+ on that. I now have a Diet Coke 3-4 times a week instead of 8-10. My success is up and down. Sometimes I can go weeks without one. And I always feel better. So, long way of getting to the fact that I succumbed yesterday and had a fountain Diet Coke. Here's what I need to remember about that: They never taste good enough for all the bad they do. That needs to be my mantra.

Then there were the chips. But at least I chose the healthier ones. And here's a cautionary note: standard potato chips have about 80 percent more calories and fats that baked ones. The data:

Baked Lays: 160 calories in a 1.375 oz. bag; 4 percent of your daily value of fat, and no trans or saturated fats; and 8 percent of your DV of sodium.

Friday, March 22, 2013

My blogs about my diet are not working as well as I had hoped. My goal was to create a sense of community, with readers joining in on a healthy eating bandwagon. But reader response was lackluster. And then I had missteps in my own diet, so I felt like a bit of a fraud. But I also thought maybe that made it more authentic. Whatever the case, the product, process, and response were all uninspiring.

So I am going to continue my diet but not the daily posts, and I may do a recap when it is over. We'll see. (I have lost a pound, so something worked.) Anybody who wants to join me can email me and I will help encourage you. I am all about encouraging people.

The message I want to send in all this:

• Diet is important in fighting TNBC; losing weight appears to be the essential factor.

• It's a real pain to eat healthy all the time. Others are better at it than I am.

• Remembering how much better I feel and look when I eat well keeps me motivated.
• Remembering is difficult when I am being lured by fats and sweets.

• Success in anything comes in smalls bits and starts. When you lose weight slowly and steadily, you are more likely to keep it off.

• Moderation in all things should be your goal.

Now off to chew on a carrot.

[Here's yesterday's diet—I already had this prepared, so figured I might as well post it.]March 21, 2013

NOTE: I make sure to keep hydrated during the day, but don't actually measure whether I get the recommended 64 ounces or not. I feel livelier when I am hydrated. Often, when I start losing energy, I have a tall drink of water and I feel better.

This was a two-smoothie day,
which put me a little heavy on fruit—that’s not a good habit, as fruit is high
in sugars. They’re natural, but it is
still not good to overdo. The evening
smoothie was a healthy treat after my qigong class and it was small. I had the morning smoothie because I was
going out to coffee at a friend’s and I wanted to make sure I got enough
nutrients, knowing I would not have a healthy snack. I did get a low-fat muffin, so it was a
little lower in fat, but it still was not nutrient-rich. It is difficult to eat healthy while eating
out or at a friend's house.

As for exercise, I found several estimates for qigong that were higher than I used. I love this exercise, but I think it was a bit modest in terms of calorie burning.

Please consider a donation
to Positives About Negative to keep this
site going. This work is entirely supported by readers. Just click on the Donate button in the right of the page.
Thank you!

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

PHILADELPHIA — The overexpression or underexpression of a newly identified set of genes related to lipid metabolism may help physicians identify whether or not a woman is at risk for hormone receptor-positive or hormone receptor-negative breast cancer and to subsequently tailor prevention strategies appropriately, according to data published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

Researchers sought to find a way to identify women at risk for estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer by examining gene expression in the unaffected breasts of women who had a primary breast cancer of known estrogen-receptor status.

They used this approach because prior research has indicated that if women who have had cancer in one breast subsequently develop a cancer in their second breast, the second cancer is likely to have hormone-receptor status that resembles the first cancer.

Using this logic, Khan and colleagues performed fine-needle aspiration on the unaffected breasts of 15 women with estrogen receptor-positive breast cancer and 15 women with estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer. They validated their results in a second group of women: 12 with estrogen receptor-positive disease, 12 with estrogen receptor-negative disease and 12 healthy controls. The cases in each set were matched by age, race and menopausal status.

The researchers identified 13 genes with significantly higher expression levels in samples from estrogen receptor-negative women. Eight of these genes were associated with lipid metabolism.

“This was interesting because obesity is a breast cancer risk factor for postmenopausal women, but obese women are generally thought to be at increased risk for hormone-sensitive cancer,” said Seema A. Khan, M.D., co-leader of the Breast Cancer Program at the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University in Chicago. “We were surprised to see that some of these genes that are associated with lipid metabolism, or the metabolism of fats, are actually more highly expressed in the unaffected breasts of women with estrogen receptor-negative breast cancer.”

The researchers also found significant overexpression of four of the genes associated with lipid metabolism — DHRS2, HMGCS2, HPGD and ACSL3 — in estrogen receptor-negative samples when compared with healthy women. In estrogen receptor-positive samples, two different lipid metabolism-associated genes — UGT2B11 and APOD — were underexpressed.

“It will be a few more steps before this information is practically useful, but we are hoping that it can take us to a place where we can obtain a breast sample from healthy women, see that they are at risk for a certain type of breast cancer and tailor the prevention strategy accordingly,” Khan said.

Please consider a donation to Positives About Negative to keep this site going. This work is entirely supported by readers. Just click on the Donate button in the right of the page. Thank you!

DONATE

Please help support this blog. All donations go to time and resources to maintain this rich source of information about triple-negative breast cancer.

Donate in the name of a friend or family member with breast cancer and I'll send a personal note of encouragement to her or him.

NOTE: I am all out of books, so I can no longer send them as part of the donation.

Surviving Triple-Negative Breast Cancer: Hope, Treatment, Recovery

Finally! A book about TNBC written by a woman who's been through it—Patricia Prijatel, founder and editor of this blog. If you like this blog, you'll love this book.

Patricia Prijatel

Founder of Positives About Negative and author of Surviving Triple Negative Breast Cancer

Top Cancer Blog

From Symphony Sisterhood

Welcome

When I was diagnosed with hormone-receptor-negative breast cancer, I required a positive attitude of myself—I was not going to let a disease have the upper hand. I hope I can share some at that attitude with you while I offer what I have learned in my trek through this disease as a patient and medical writer.

It's a given that life ends in death. Cancer just makes you face that inevitability more directly than you might have before. To me, that means living fully right now.

Three Mountain Dogs, a children's book by Patricia Prijatel

Triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) lacks hormone receptors for estrogen, progesterone, and Her2/neu. It affects about 20 percent of all those with breast cancer. This blog offers information and hope for those with TNBC and other forms of hormone-negative breast cancer.

Calm Spirit Note Cards

Blank greeting cards with the Calm Spirit image are available in packets of 6. They're ideal for sending a personal message of encouragement to anyone living with cancer. Boxes of six are available for $10.00 and can be ordered by contacting my friend Madlyn at madlyn.ferraro@ gmail com. Individual cards are $2.50 each.